CPC candidates make their cases at the Western Standard debate

Rebel News was in attendance for the Western Standard's CPC leadership candidates' event in Calgary.

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The Western Standard hosted a Conservative Party of Canada leadership debate in downtown Calgary last week

Scott Aitchison, Jean Charest, and Roman Baber all participated in the event which resembled more of a fireside chat than a traditional debate. Western Standard boss Derek Fildebrandt served as host to the conversations which offered a more in-depth look at each candidate's plans and priorities.

While this may not have been the heated back and forth debate-style many may have hoped for, it undoubtedly served a role in allowing folks to better know the candidates.

Media was also given an extensive scrum window with both Mr. Charest and Mr. Baber after the event, while Mr. Aitchison departed just prior to the question period opening. We had a large team of Rebels in attendance and you can see our coverage of the event here

I spoke with Fildebrandt about the challenges of hosting an event of this nature and the necessity for independent media to ask real questions of government officials. I also checked in with United Conservative Party leadership hopeful Danielle Smith, MLA Todd Loewen, and former MLA Linda Johnson who were also in attendance at the event.

We were informed that Leslyn Lewis, who was scheduled to attend, was campaigning somewhere in the territories at the North end of this great country and thus could no longer make it. While Lewis has visited Calgary frequently and even has a campaign office here, many in attendance were questioning the wisdom of skipping out on prime politicking on Stampede parade day.

Pierre Poilievre was also expected to attend at one point, but reportedly due to some schedule issues he wound up attending a nearby Stampede party at the time of the event. Poilievre is an unspoken supporter of independent media, but people are beginning to take note that he has been skipping out on media scrums and debates more often than they would prefer.

He is the clear frontrunner, and it may in fact be prudent to avoid excessive unscripted media availability, but people want transparency and availability in politics now more than ever. In my humble opinion, Poilievre should do the precise opposite of cowering-Trudeau and meet the people face-to-face whenever he can.

To ensure you have the most up-to-date reports from Rebel News on the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race, check-in often at LeadershipReports.ca.

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